Railway-track construction in paved streets.



T. H. TUTWILER.

RAILWAY TRACK CONSTRUCTION m PAVED STREETS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30,1914.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 E zyyl fim in? T. H. TU'I'W'ILER. RAILWAY-TRACK CONSTRUCTION IN PAVED STREETS.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30,1914.

1,121,421. Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

THOMAS H. TUTWILER, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

RAILWAY-TRACK CONSTRUCTION IN PAVED STREETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

Application filed September 30, 1914. Serial No. 864,282.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs H. TUTWILER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Track Construction in Paved Streets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to railway track constructions,and consists more particularly in a railway track construction for use on the the noise incldent to traflic on prior constructions shall be in a large measure diminished. Said construction is equally applicable in the construction of ordinary street railways, street railways using underground trolley located in conduits, between and below the track rails, and steam railroad tracks laid in paved streets, each being modified to meet the special requirements, but not affecting the principle of my invention.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved street railway construction in which the various elements and parts thereof will be so arranged to permit of ready access thereto for the purpose of removing and replacing old and broken rails, and other parts, without the necessity of disturbing the foundation or the paved surface of th street.

With the advent of the modern rail on concrete foundations, it has become necessary.

for the proper maintenance of the pavement alongside of the track, that the rails be laid rigid, which construction intensifies rather than diminishes the noise of'passing cars. While this construction contributes to the life and integrity of the pavement, therigi'dity tends to increase the noise, and further to cause rails to become worn and corrugated.

Such corrugations still further increases the noise and necessitates the constant grinding out of the rails.

The present invention aims to obviate the above difficulties by devising a rail mounted upon an elastic bed supported in an unyielding foundation.

It is a further object of the present invention'to utilize along railway track constructions in paved streets the standard T-rail arranged to cooperate'with parts adapted to paved streets of cities, whereby convert the same for all substantial purposes into a girder rail.

Reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference symbols indicate corresponding parts in the several views Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the street railway track constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows; Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a top plan View of a bridge-piece constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 6 is a side elevational view of the same; and Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the .usual foundation as now generally employed in street railway track construction is designated at 1, to be formed of concrete covered over with a layer of sand 2, upon which the surface blocks 3 are laid; the same being preferably of creosoted wood.

Embedded in the concretefoundation l, at any required distance apart, are the steel cross ties 4, preferably of I-beam construction as shown, and the upper flanges of the cross ties l arearranged to support longitudinal wooden stringers 5 spaced apart to the required gage. The longitudinal wooden stringers 5 are preferably not attached directly to the cross ties 4: but are secured in position thereon through the instrumenta'lity each of a pair of girders 6 and 7, bolted to the stringers, as indicated at 8, and the same are each provided with oppositely-disposed basal flanges 9 and 10,.respectively, for en-' gagement by fastening devices 11, whereby the same are secured to the cross ties. The stringers 5, together with the associated girders 6 and 7, may be secured to position by means of gage rods 7*, passing through alining openings in the stringers and girders, and being threaded to receive nuts 7 l(bearing against each opposite girder mem- Each of the girders 6 and 7 are preferably constructed with a series of ribs or co-rruga- Y tions 12, arranged to bite into the sides of the stringers 5 and take a secure hold upon the same in order to prevent accidental dis- 11 o vplacement of the parts, and the inner girders 7 are provided with enlarged ribs 13 extending over the upper edge of the respective wooden .stringers for a purpose hereinafter described. Each pair of girders extends substantially to the paving line and forms therebetween a channel for the reception of the T-rails 1 1, which are supported upon the stringers 5.

An elastic composition sheet 15 is preferably interposed between each stringer and T-rail and extends, as advantageously shown in Fig. 2, over the outer side of said rails. Each outer girder 6 is enlarged at its upper end, as shown, to provide a head'against which the paving blocks may be laid; while the inner girder members 7 are each constructed with heads 16 formed withv outwardly-disposed flanges 17 arranged to lie in contact with the ball of the respective T-rail and constitute therewith a girder rail.

To the outer side of the T-rails 14- the channels are filled in with paving units or blocks 18 of substantially that construction shown to advantage in Figs. 1 and 2; and into the interstices and spaces between the T-rails 14 and the blocks 18 and girders 7 is poured an asphaltic filler 19.

The T-rails may be secured in position on the stringers 5 in any suitable manner, but I preferably employ chock blocks 20, spaced at substantially 3-foot intervals, as indicated in Fig. 1; and each chock block, as indicated to the left in Fig. 2, preferably comprises a pair of members 21 and 22 arranged to follow the contour of the T-rail and provided with alining openings for the reception of lag-screws 23, countersunk in the upper members 21 thereof and threaded into the respective stringers 5.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1-7 inclusive of the drawings, 1 have illustrated an improved bridge-piece arranged to 0051)- erate with the splice bars or fish plates 24 and 25, for securing the rail ends together through bolts 26 in the usual manner; and the improved bridge-piece is cast with an enlarged tread portion 27 arranged to engage the side of the ball of the abutting ends of the rails 14, and the surface of the tread 27 may be corrugated, channeled or roughened in any suitable manner, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6. The bridge-piece is further east with heads 28 and 29 at each end thereof, and the heads are recessed, as indicated in Fig. 7, to receive a cooperating filler block 80, constructed substantially in the same manner as the members 22 of the chock blocks, and each filler block 30 is provided with an opening in registry with an opening in the respective bridge-piece head to receive a lag-screw 31, threaded into the stringer in that manner shown in connection with the chock block in Fig. 2.

In practice the cross ties 4 and the longitudinal wooden stringers 5, together with the cooperating girders 6 and 7, are embedded in the concrete foundation 1 in an obvious manner, and the'same brought to the required gage and secured in position. The elastic composition sheets 15 are thereupon laid in position upon the top of the The elastic sheets-15 are now folded.

up about the outer sides of the rails 14: and

the blocks 18 laid and the asphaltic filler 19 finally poured into fill up the spaces and interstices and provide a continuous surface.

It will be readily appreciated from the foregoing that I have provided a railway:

track construction especially adapted "for use in the paved streets of cities; and that, while supporting the trackway from the same solid and unyielding foundation as that upon which the street paving is-laid, yet at the same time mounting the rails im mediately upon an elastic cushion which will absorb and diminish in a great measure the noise of passing cars. As repairs and replacement of rails and other parts become necessary from time to time, instead of removing portions of the street paving as now required, the blocks 18 and the asphaltic filler may be quickly and inexpensively removed and ready access is to be had therethrough to the joints and fastening of the rails.

I have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory constructions, but obviously changes could be made in the herein described apparatus without departing from the spirit of my invention.

, I claim 1. In a railway track construction, the

combination of a foundation, a paving laid upon said foundation, stringers supported in said. foundation, girders arranged to provide a channel above eachof the series of stringers, rails supported on said stringers in the channels formed by said girders, p'av-' ing units laid in the channels beside said rails, and a filling poured into the spaces and interstices between said rails and respective girders and paving units, substantially as described.

2. In a railway track construction, the combination of a foundation, a paving laid upon said foundation, stringers supported in said foundation, girders arranged to provide a channel above each of the series of stringers, rails supported on said. stringers in the channels formed by said girders,

elastic sheets interposed between said stringers and rails for cushioning thelatter, paving units laid in the channels beside said rails, and a filling poured into the spaces and interstices between said rails and respective girders and paving units, substan tially as described.

3. In a railway track construction, the combination of a foundation, longitudinal stringers supported on said foundation, pairs of girders arranged to provide a channel above each of the longitudinal series of said stringers, each of the inside girders being provided with flanged heads, and T- rails supported upon said stringers in the channels formed by said girders and arranged to cooperate with the flanged heads on the inside girders to constitute girder rails, substantially as described.

4. In a railway track construction, the combination of a foundation, longitudinal stringers supported on said foundation,

- pairs of girders arranged to provide a channel above each of the longitudinal series of said stringers, each of the inside girders being provided with flanged heads, T-rails supported upon said stringers in the channels formed by said girders and arranged to cooperate with the flanged heads on the inside girders to constitute girder rails, pav ing units laid in the channels to the outside of said rails, and a filling poured into the spaces and interstices between said rails and respective girders and paving units, substantially as described.

5 In a railway track construction, the combination of a foundation, a'paving laid upon said foundation, cross-ties embedded in said foundation, longitudinal wooden stringers supported on said cross-ties and secured together at the required gage, pairs of girders secured to the opposite sides of each longitudinal series of said stringers and extending substantially to the surface to provide channels above said stringers, basal flanges on said girders for attachment to said cross-ties, flanged heads on each of the inside girders, T-rails supported on said stringers in the channels and arranged to cooperate with the flanged heads on said inside girders to constitute girder rails, elastic sheets interposed between said stringers and rails for cushioning the latter, paving units laid into the channels to the outside of said rails, and an elastic filling poured into the spaces and interstices between said rails, and

the respective girders and paving units,

substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS H. TUTWILER. Vitnesses:

E. J. KARR, A. D. MOWHERTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained'for five cents eachfby addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

